Transport refrigeration systems for straight trucks and vans commonly utilize separate condenser and evaporator sections or units, with the condenser unit being mounted on the nose or front wall of a straight truck or on a roof of a van, and with an evaporator unit being mounted in a conditioned space of the associated vehicle. Evaporator units for such air conditioning systems have typically been ceiling mounted sheet metal boxes which house the evaporator coil, fan and other associated components.
Such sheet metal boxes typically occupy a large volume of valuable cargo space within the conditioned space of the vehicle. Further, when it is desired to make adjustments to certain components of the refrigeration system, it is necessary to shut down the system in order to safely open the sheet metal box to gain access to components such as the compressor pressure regulating valve ("CPR") and/or the thermostatic expansion valve ("TXV") of the system. In some situations, evaporators are partially disassembled while in operation thereby exposing technicians to dangerous conditions including contact with the evaporator fan. Other drawbacks of prior art systems include their inability to collect condensation from the evaporator coil and thus prevent it from falling on goods stored within the conditioned space. Other problems associated with water collection include the projection of condensate from the evaporator into the conditioned space as a result of the high rate of air flow within the evaporator and across the evaporator coil.